


If It Hurts This Much, Then It Must Be Love

by fivesecondsofmae



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 18x18, Boarding School, Fluff, Lashton - Freeform, M/M, Mashton friendship, Mpreg, Sex, Smut, a fair bit of fluff, cake friendship, lashton smut, luke and ash fall pregnant, mpreg ashton, strict father
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 21:04:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4277859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fivesecondsofmae/pseuds/fivesecondsofmae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At Lower Knights Boarding School for Boys, Luke and Ashton have to keep their relationship a secret to everyone, particularly Luke’s strict Headmaster of a father. The only ones who know are their best friends Calum and Michael. But Calum’s got his own love problems when he falls for a teacher, and Michael’s struggling to keep pretending he’s not in love with the new exchange student Louis. When Ashton falls pregnant, how will they deal with the school, their families, and their futures?</p>
            </blockquote>





	If It Hurts This Much, Then It Must Be Love

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! Thanks for reading my new fic. Please let me know what you think!! Kudos if you get the few references dotted about. The school is set in Australia but bc I'm a Brit, I'm working with the boarding schools I know. Hope you enjoy!!!!! Rated Explicit for future chapters. Title is from Always Attract by YMAS.

Assembly. It would not be too bad if Luke were allowed to sit at the back, out of the way and aimlessly scroll through twitter on his phone or something, but being the Headmaster’s son means you have to sit on the front row, with the other kids who had managed to get into Lower Knights Boarding School for Boys because of their parents. Really, Luke had absolutely earned his place to be at the prestigious school, but for a lot of the boys, it was because of their money and their families.  Luke was a straight A student, excelling in near enough every subject, mainly as a result of a strict upbringing and always living in the schooling environment. The boys used to be allowed half an hour free time before they had to do all their homework and study, but once his two brothers graduated, Luke being the most rebellious of the three, had disobeyed his father, and studied when he wanted to. His father had not been happy, but had grown tired of arguing with Luke. His older brothers had both graduated with honours, and so of course everyone expected the youngest Hemmings boy to follow in his elders’ footsteps.

 

Luke’s biggest desire was independence. It was not that he was not thankful for the good and fortunate upbringing he had had, but he needed to be his own person, and live according to himself, and that could not be done under the eye of his father or the school. Luke couldn’t wait to leave, truth be told. Final year had just started, and in ten months’ time, he would be free.

 

Luke wanted to be sitting either with his best friend Calum, in the middle of one section of the old great hall with the rest of their group, or with the love of his life who sat a few rows behind him, dark blond curls pushed back and with his thick rimmed glasses on. Luke looked at him then, ignored what the speaker of today’s assembly was saying and stared at the most beautiful man in the world. Ashton wore the maroon jumper of the school uniform and tight grey trousers, a crisp white shirt underneath and the black and white striped tie with the school emblem on it. He’d hung the grey blazer over the back of his chair and sat easily, looking a little bored but still paying attention to what he was hearing. Luke could not wait until the day when he did not have to wear the uniform. He was eighteen an envied the other schools in the area who allowed their sixth formers to wear whatever they wanted to classes, as long as it was smart.

 

Luke realised he was staring mindlessly at the way the jumper fit Ashton so well, in spite of the material’s ugliness and he wondered how Ashton always managed to make something kind of grim look decent.  Maybe it was because Luke got to watch Ashton get dressed, got to watch the young guy tie his hair up messily while he slipped the white shirt on and buttoned it up, putting the tie around his neck, tying it quickly, and then throwing on the jumper. Luke had gotten to watch that sight often, and he’d done so earlier that morning, after they’d woken up, legs tangled in each other’s, had had morning sex and kissed goodbye before Luke had to sneak back to his dorm two corridors away from Ashton’s room.

 

Every time Luke had to do so, he thought about how amazing it would be if he were Ashton’s roommate, but his father had insisted, in fact had demanded, that Luke stay in the singular dormitories that had their own bathrooms and common room. Luke knew the other boys called their corridor Posh Wanker’s Hallway, because it was where the richest kids’ parents paid for their children to live in, Thankfully, Luke’s next door neighbour was his best friend Calum, but it was still quite isolating and was never as fun or chilled as it was on the corridor in which Ashton inhabited. They shared rooms of two and there were communal bathrooms and showers in the middle of the hallway. There was often a lot of noise from that corridor, the upper sixth boys would play with a football down the corridor until it was confiscated or play music loudly so it would seep into the other rooms surrounding. They did have a common room at the end of the corridor too, but it was smaller than the one in the Posh Wanker’s Hallway and the boys were encouraged to keep to the common room that was in each of their corridors.

 

Luke hated it, hated how hierarchal the school was, and hated the system of it all. He didn’t want to hear it. But that was how it was, and Luke reminded himself every day that he was nearly out of there. There were good things he enjoyed about the school, he had a great group of friends and played on many teams, but he was sick of the stuck up boys he had to share the place with.

 

Luke felt someone tap him on the shoulder, and realised the assembly was over, standing up in the formality of doing so as the Headmaster left the stage. He watched his father go, the black robe bellowing around him and soaked in the instant chatter that occurred once he had left the hall. As Luke left, he tried to sought out where Ashton had gone, looking over the heads of hundreds of boys. When he saw a mop of unnaturally dyed hair on a tall boy near the south entrance of the hall, he knew it was Michael, Ashton’s best friend and roommate, and knew Ash would be nearby him. He made his way through the crowds and towards the two men as they exited the place. Without uttering a word, as soon as he was close enough, Luke slid his hand into Ashton’s and smiled when it made Ashton jump until he felt the familiarity of his boyfriend.

 

They had been dating for six months, with only each of their best friends knowing, and sometimes Luke would forget that he couldn’t hold his boyfriend’s hand in school or public. Ashton pulled his hand out of Luke’s grasp quickly and smiled sadly, mentally reminding Luke that he couldn’t do that.

 

“And then... Oh, all right, Hemmings!” Michael grinned when he turned around to see that Ashton had stopped walking and Luke standing close to him, their hands ghosting over each other’s.

 

“Hey guys.” Luke smiled back.

 

“Actually, why am I smiling?” Michael exclaimed. “I have a bone to pick with the pair of you. Could you guys really not keep it in your pants last night? I had to listen through all that and y’all spared no thought for me across the room...Shocking.” Michael’s face screwed up in mock disgust. “I’m not _that_ deep a sleeper!”

 

“We’re- we’re really sorry!” Ashton stifled a laugh as Michael punched him gently on the arm. “But seriously, sorry Mike, it won’t happen again.” Ashton flicked his gaze to his boyfriend and saw the smirk on his face.

 

Michael just shook his head with a sigh, not quite believing the pair of them but hoping for the best, and before he could rebuke them any further, the three of them heard the loud sound of “Mr Clifford!” to which Michael simply grunted. The voice was that of Mr Feldmann, their music teacher. A nice bloke, but someone to be reckoned with. The grey haired man whore the black robes of the staff uniform and was heading towards them.  “I didn’t receive your homework by the deadline last night...any chance you want to tell me why you didn’t hand it in?”

 

Michael rolled his eyes, and said “I’m working on it.”

 

“That’s not good enough, Michael.” Feldmann told him, his arms crossing over his body. “And you know that. You’ve got yourself detention tonight, and you won’t be leaving until you’ve handed it in. My classroom at 4pm.” And with a last look, Feldmann turned around and left them.

 

“For fucks’ sake.” Michael groaned. “I’m his best student and he’s still a dick to me. Ash, aren’t I his best student?”

 

Both Ashton and Luke laughed gently at their friend, eyebrows rising.  

 

“Yeah, and humble too.” Ashton snorted, his head falling back a little as he laughed and it took all of Luke’s restraint not to wrap his arms around the guy’s waist and pull him into a kiss. But Luke couldn’t do that, not in the middle of the busy corridor and it sucked.

“You know that nobody shreds the guitar as well as me...” Michael guffawed. ”Luke’s got game, but we all know I’ve got the Y factor.”

 

“The why don’t you shut up factor, you mean.” Ashton laughed, eyes creasing, more so at the fact that his joke was so terrible. Michael just sighed, used to his best friend’s humour. “We should get to class. See you later, Luke.”

 

Luke wanted to kiss him again, god, he’d kiss the boy every second of every day if he could. He looked around, making sure none of the stragglers were looking and came a little closer to Ashton, so only he could hear when he whispered “I love you.”

 

Luke didn’t look at his love, just turned around and shouted a “See you later!” at the two guys and made his way to class.

 

* * *

 

 By the end of the final period of the day, Luke was absolutely ready to get out of the Mathematics lesson that had bored him to death, but when he looked across the table to his best friend, he saw that Calum did not wear the same expression. In fact, Calum was quite awake as he stared at their teacher. Luke followed his gaze, deciding that with only five minutes left of the lesson, his mind was going to wander whether he wanted it to or not. He saw Miss Jardine, with her dark brown hair in a loose ponytail, the black robe swallowing her up. She could have only been in her mid-twenties and Luke wondered how she ended up coming to teach here. She was pretty new, only having started teaching there last spring term, but Luke liked her and he felt bad that he did not enjoy her subject as much as he wanted to. Luke was decent at maths, and had it not been for the fact that his father made him pick up another subject, he would only be taking the four classes he had chosen for himself.

 

Luke looked back as Calum, and saw the way his cheeks had tinted themselves red and he smirked, knowing that Calum was crushing on her. It was not the first time Calum had crushed on a teacher, but that last time was when they were sweaty puberty angst year 9s, and things were a lot different now. Calum barely looked eighteen anymore, his muscles at their biggest and his body at its strongest. The pair of them were on both the football team, the rugby team, and the cricket team and so spent a fair amount of time working on keeping their bodies healthy. Luke was glad he always had Calum right beside him to motivate him; the boy’s enthusiasm always keeping him going through long training sessions.

 

When the bell rung, announcing the end of class, Luke practically took seconds to pack his books away and stand up and groaned when he realised Calum had barely even stood up. “It’s ok. I’ll see you back in the common room. I need to ask Miss some questions about last week’s mock paper.” Calum told him, and Luke said a quick goodbye before leaving the room.

 

He made his way through the big building and down the two staircases and out onto the quad, looking around to see if Ashton was anywhere before remembering it was Thursday and that Ashton would be at his piano classes, teaching the younger years. Ashton was so good with the kids, and it was no surprise how he got his Prefect badge with the attitude he had. Always smiling, always encouraging, and positive. Luke was a Prefect too, but he knew it was just because he was the Headmaster’s child that he’d been given the role. He sauntered his way down the path and to the living quarters, the large old Victorian building looming up over him.

 

There was no denying it was a beautiful school, with all its historical background and stunning architecture. His room was located on the second floor, in corridor C, and he easily ran up the grand staircase and through the hallways until he reached his room, Room 22. When he got inside, he kicked off his shoes and started taking off the material trappings of his uniform, changing into a black t-shirt and skinny dark jeans. Personally, he’d never liked too much the more preppy style of his peers or of his brothers, and opted for the comfort of jeans and plain t-shirts often.

 

He put the radio on, quickly finding the rock channel he usually listened to and kept the volume reasonable.  He laid down on the bed, finding a comfortable position with the palms of his hands underneath his head. He knew he should start studying, but absolutely no part of him wanted to look over his papers, and so he settled for staring up at the white ceiling for a while, with it not being long until he thought of Ashton.

 

Thought of the way the older boy had straddled him last night on his best, being as quiet as possible, and kissed down his neck slowly. Luke sighed without being able to stop himself, and smiled at the fact that he could relax. Nobody could read his thoughts. He might not be able to treat Ashton as his boyfriend in school time, but this was his time, and he could think about his lover as much as he liked now. He could think about the way he pulled on Ashton’s glorious hair as he had sucked Luke off.

 

He would have to go down to dinner soon, so he stopped the thoughts that had made his stomach tighten a little in remembrance and focussed on planning out his studying schedule for the rest of the week. And he would have continued doing that if it was not for a knock on his door. He got up, turned the radio off just in case it was a corridor warden, who crept through the halls at least once a day to make sure everything was ok.

 

He was surprised to open the door and see his father, still in his robes, and he wondered at what point of the day did his father change out of it. He rarely saw the man not wearing the dark cloth.

 

“Hello?” Luke said, wary of his appearance. Luke saw his father every weekday, but usually it was when he was sat on the stage during assembly or when he was called to the man’s office to talk about how his studying was going or if his brothers were visiting soon.

 

“Luke.” Hemmings said, a form of a welcoming smile on his face, though it felt a little unnatural. “I’ve been trying to ring you on your mobile but you didn’t answer. I just needed to check that you were going to see your Mother this weekend.”

 

“Yeah, I planned to.” Luke agreed. His parents had been divorced for ten years, and so he spent various weekends with her in the city when he could. His parents did not have the best relationship, but at least they spoke to each other civilly, unlike what he’d heard of Michael’s parents who had a screaming match every time they spoke.

 

“Ok. As long as you’re back by midday on Sunday. We’ve got the match against St. Leonard’s, remember?” Hemmings asked, talking of the next school team Lower Knights would be facing in the cricket tournament that weekend.

 

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll be back.” Luke assured him, leaning against the doorframe and looking over his father.

 

“Right, well, see you soon then.” Hemmings said, reaching a hand out for Luke to shake. Luke tried to recall the last time he hugged his father and came up completely blank. He might have thought it was sad, but he had gotten past the point of consciously caring. He guessed it was hard being a father, and maybe Luke resented him a bit, but he felt unaware of what it must be like to run such a school as his and chose not to think about it any longer.  

 

“See you.” Luke shook it strongly, and watched as Hemmings walked back down the corridor and turned a corner, disappearing around it.

 

“Woah.” Luke turned around to see Calum standing next to his own room door, a pile of books in his hands and his hair ruffled. “Was that your dad? Actually coming to your room?” Calum’s eyebrows are high as he asked.

 

“I know...Father of the Year Award belongs to him, right?” Luke sniggered. Calum gave him a thoughtful look but did not say anything, just grabbed his key from his pocket and let himself into his room, leaving the door open for Luke to follow in when he felt like it. Luke loved the simplicity of their best friendship, and loved the fact that Calum’s door was always, metaphorically and literally, open to him. Luke’s was the same, unless Ashton was over in which case the door very regularly was locked.

 

 

* * *

 

Ashton smiled as he grabbed his back pack, his blazer in his hands as he left the music room and the few younger kids who were still hanging around after their class. It made him feel great teaching the younger kids, and he found it a pretty good way to deal with the fact that he was missing his little siblings. He loved being at Lower Knights, and god he had worked bloody hard to get there. He deserved the scholarship that was paying for his education at one of the best schools in the country, but he did miss his family, a lot.

 

He decided he’d skype them as soon as he had a spare moment, which were getting scarcer and scarcer as the term got into its full swing. Education had always been an escape for Ashton, ever since he was a child. When his mother would have to work all the time to be able to fend for him and the other children, he would spend hours in the local library, learning everything he could. And Lower Knights was all a part of getting the best possible start in life, so that he could give his family everything he desperately wished they could have.

 

And so he smiled, because although he was extremely tired, he was doing everything he could to make a better life for himself and his family, and every day he was getting closer to that goal. 

 

He was also smiling because he knew he was going to his boyfriend’s room. And there was not a single thing that Ash wanted more right then than to be in the arms of his love. It sucked having to sneak around, and it hurt Ashton probably more than he let on to Luke, but he knew it was the only way they could get through their final year of school. Of course, everyone knew he was bi, and he was more than used to the onslaught of abuse he would get in the changing room or anywhere really from the other boys, many of the ones who only knew his name and his sexuality and nothing else about him. He was not the only one that got into trouble. Luke too, got it for being friends with gay people and so did a couple of the other boys, but nobody dared touch the Headmaster’s son, or his supposed straight sexuality. And Ashton being “friends” with the Headmaster’s son caused two very opposing results – he would either be left alone entirely, not wanting the wrath of the teachers or Headmaster that Luke could obviously tell, or he would get beaten up behind the gymnasium like some bullies had done to him when he was in year ten.  The boys had been older, and had left the school by now, but it did not stop Ashton or Luke from worrying a little about the people around them. Ultimately, it was not something they could change and they had become used to the threat of bullying.

 

Ashton tried not to think of it as often as possible, because it just got him feeling miserable, and he could not do anything when he got miserable. So he smiled. And he smiled as he reached Luke and Calum’s rooms, finding the two of them in the latter’s room, playing fifa and trash talking each other very happily.

 

“Mate, you know you’re going to lose this...” Calum said, and when they heard Ashton’s footsteps, Cal laughed, because Luke basically threw the console down on the bed because all he wanted to look at was Ashton.

 

“He’s going to lose, but he’s going to get laid.” Ashton half-jokingly laughed.

 

“Be off with you kids!” Calum said, returning to the game and ignoring the way Luke grabbed the older boy’s hand and move closer to press his lips to Ashton’s. He pulled Ashton out of Cal’s room and straight into his own next door, and shut the door behind him.

 

They all but collapsed onto Luke’s big bed, Ashton throwing his bag and blazer down on the floor in the process. Ashton very easily kissed Luke’s lips, smiling as he did so, and pushing Luke down so he was lying flat, and finding a space leaning against his chest, their legs once again clambered on top of each other’s.

“Hello stranger” Luke grinned, going in to kiss Ashton again, his mouth open and his tongue on Ash’s lips.

 

“Hey” Ashton laughed when he could breathe. “You all right?”

 

“So much better now you’re here.” Luke told him. He traced his hand down Ashton’s side, resting it on Ashton’s waist and pulling the boy closer. “I’ve missed you.”

 

“You saw me like three hours ago...” Ashton argued with a grin on his lips.

 

“Far too long.” Luke kissed Ashton’s forehead, and settled his gaze on Ashton’s eyes, his glasses framing them nicely. Luke could stare at the brown green eyes for years and not get bored. He needed Ashton’s warmth constantly and did not know how he’d gone seventeen years previously without it. Of course, the pair of them had been mutual friends through their school years, but it was not until the beginning of the summer holidays, when Luke was forced as usual to live in the school while everyone was heading back home to spend the time with their families. He had been going to the library every day, just to get out of his room and had discovered Ashton sitting at one of the tables, books spread all around him, and wearing just a white t-shirt and jeans. Ashton had told him that he was spending the summer at Lower Knights, because he needed to study and because he could no go home at that time.

 

Luke had not asked many questions, but over the months, with Ashton living at the school too, he had spent more and more time with Ashton. And without meaning to, he had fallen head over heels, right into the deep end, in love with him. And just like that, everything had changed.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
